1. Reported Speech

2. Basics
When we turn direct speech into indirect / reported speech, some changes are usually necessary:
Sam: ̒I’m leaving today.̕
Sam said he was leaving that day.
DIRECT SPEECH
INDIRECT SPEECH

3. Tense changes
If we have a past tense reporting verb, tenses move back in time!
Sam: ̒I’m leaving.̕
Sam said he was leaving.
Peter: ̒I was at home.̕
Peter said that he had been at home.

4. Tense changes II The past perfect and the past perfect
continuous stay the same!
Jack: ̒I hadn’t forgotten̕ .
→ Jack said that he hadn’t forgotten.
John: ̒I had already been living in London̕.
→ John said he had already been living in London.

5. Changes of adverbs / reference words
Sam: ̒I’m leaving today.̕
Sam said he was leaving that day.
Tina: ̒I’m going to London tomorrow.̕
Tina said she was going to London the next day.
Joe: ̒I’ll see you here tomorrow, Mary.̕
Joe told Mary he would see her there the next day.

6. Orders / requests Orders are reported with tell and the infinitive:
̒Go away! ̕
→ He told me to go away!
Requests are reported with ask and the infinitive:
̒Please help me.̕
→ He asked me to help him.

7. Reporting questions Yes / No questions are reported using if:
̒Do you like hamburgers? ̕
→ She asked me if I liked hamburgers.
Wh- questions are reported with the question word followed by the verb in the form of a normal statement:
̒Where are we going? ̕
→ She asked me where we were going.

8. Exercise: Report these sentences!
Ex.: Jim: ̒I am working today ̕ .
Jim said he was working that day.
Melinda: ‘I was in Barcelona two weeks ago̕ .
Brad: ̒Will you marry me, Angelina? ̕
Tony: ̒I’ve been working very hard ̕.
Roger: ̒How are the twins, Mirka? ̕
Linda: ̒I had been working as an actress in Hollywood̕ .
Tom: ‘Give me my wallet, Mary!’

9. 1. Melinda: ̒I was in Barcelona two weeks ago̕ .
Melinda said she had been in B. two weeks before.
2. Brad: ̒Will you marry me, Angelina? ̕.
Brad asked Angelina if she would marry him.
3. Tony: ̒I’ve been working very hard ̕.
Tony said he’d been working very hard.
4. Roger: ̒How are the twins, Mirka? ̕
Roger asked Mirka how the twins were.
5. Linda: ̒I had been working as an actress in Hollywood̕ .
Linda said she had been working as an actress in Hollywood.
6. Tom: ̒Give me my wallet, Mary ̕̕ !
Tom told / asked Mary to give him his wallet.

10. Reported Speech
(Part II)

11. Reported speech without tense changes
Present tense reports:
If the reporting verb is in the present tense,
there is no change:
→ Brenda says she’s arriving at about 6 o’clock.

12. Reported speech without tense changes
Past tense reports:
If the reporting words are ̒always true̕ , there
is no change:
→ Harry said that Berlin is the capital of Germany.
If the message is being repeated immediately,
there is no change:
→ Mary said she’s too busy to come.

13. Reported speech in complex sentences
In complex sentences, only the first verb is changed:
James: ̒I was walking home when I saw the accident’.
→ James said he had been walking home
when he saw the accident.

14. Exercises
Tom: ̒I was driving home when all of a sudden a car crashed into the side of my Honda’. → Tom said he had been driving home when all of a sudden a car crashed into the side of his Honda. Jane: ̒I bought a new car when I was in Italy half a year ago ̕ . → Jane said she had bought a car when she was in Italy half a year earlier.

15. Reporting verbs say vs. tell
Reported Speech
Reporting verbs
say vs. tell

16. say vs. tell If we say who somebody is talking to, we use tell:
Tina told me that you were in hospital.
What did you tell the police?
Otherwise, we use say:
Tina said that you were in hospital.
What did you say?

17. But you can say something to somebody:
Ann said goodbye to me and left.
What did you say to the police?

18. Exercises Dan sagte mir nichts. Dan didn’t tell me anything.
Dan didn’t say anything to me.
Sagte sie dir was passierte?
Did she tell you what had happened?
Did she say to you what had happened?
Stehe nicht nur herum! Sag etwas!
Don’t just stand there! Say something!